The Sword of Damocles hangs over me,
That I am not complacent on my throne.
A stark reminder of mortality
And gift of wisdom meant for me alone.
When each sincerest proclamation's made
Or tender moment bleeds a heart serene,
The ever-present wisdom of the blade
Reminds me fate may always intervene.
Yet, I'll ignore fear's whispers, "Step aside!"
Let life be risked in ordinary deeds
That I may overcome the snares of pride
As death's impartial wisdom intercedes.
I celebrate life with humility;
The Sword of Damocles hangs over me.
Author notes
In Greek Mythology Damocles (DAM-o-clees) wanted to know what it was like to be king, so the king hung a heavy sword by a single horsehair over the throne pointing at the exact middle and let Damocles sit in the throne and be pampered with food, women and song. The "Sword of Damocles" refers to impending doom.
This is an English Sonnet in iambic pentameter. It has a rhymescheme of ababcdcdefefgg. The English sonnet is supposed to address and readdress the subject in lines 1 through 8 then address the same subject from a different perspective in lines 9 through 12. The final two lines are called a heroic couplet where the point of the sonnet is summarized in bold language to drive the point home. I have repeated the first line as a means to have the reader see the line, then have it discussed in such a way that when they see the line again at the end it has a completely different meaning to them.
Comments
1 - 13 of 13
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OK, I'll join the chorus here: It's wonderful, it's a perfect sonnet, it's one of the best you've ever done....Doesn't that get boring after a while? LOL...Personally, I like the straightforward message of it to the individual reader, not the national leaders and such. If each of us ' Let life be risked in ordinary deeds', then when death calls to us, we will not feel that we acted with a sword over our head, but our soul in our hands. Love the writing and the writer, Rhonda
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A good and relevant lesson for many of the World's leaders. Excellent work!
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This is very good
I like the way your sonnet addresses the grad plan of life. I also like that it says we chose to be brave enough to live or to live in fear of living.
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"Reminds me fate may always intervene.
Yet, I'll ignore fear's whispers, "Step aside!"
Let life be risked in ordinary deeds
That I may overcome the snares of pride
As death's impartial wisdom intercedes." Found those lines full of deep in meaning yet simple in to relate to.
Overall I enjoyed the read and it's depth of thought, good write
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This is beautiful and is not only relevant as in the passage from Cicero but also today. If only our leaders would realize that their throne may be severed as easily as the horse hair that suspends the sword hanging above it. This sonnet is a masterpiece.
Love,
Amera
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heyyy allann
Nice writing I'm gonna share this alright
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You have well-crafted this sonnet with flow and the thoughts you wanted to express.
The repetition of the first line at the end is effective.
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wow I learn something new everyday I had no idea what that meant until I read your notes. this was very well written and a pleasure to read. Job well done and thanks for sharing
huggles
Lena -
Amazing!
Absolutely amazing... the pentameter, the form, the rhyme, the vocabulary, the imagery, the message behind the poem all combine to create a superb and astounding sonnet. I would wish you best of fortune in the competition, but surely your skill with the quill makes lady luck a little superfluous.
I think in this case you are entitled to some of that pride, good sir. Well done!
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Absolutely beautiful! You, as always, pen a deeper message than is first seen. I thought the flow of this was wonderful, great form. But the content was even better! Love it.
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I love the aura around this piece, very heroic and almost middle age. Awesome work, I couldn't have done better myself!
keep writing
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Masterful Effort.
I enjoyed the neat unfolding of the subject and then the summary, enhancing the message. I love it when you write form poetry; you are a born narrator and the sonnet is really an apt form for analogies. You also know how to merge content and structure smoothly. Very well done, Poet!
I started to experiment with the sonnet, by using internal rhyme and also pair rhyme (couplets) throughout. For some reason I love the immediacy of the echo in such a rhyme scheme. Simplified like this, I can also concentrate more on the content. I guess I am getting lazy.
But, I think you are more of a purist and a traditional sonnet writer -- I think it must be the influence of Queen Amera!
It was a pleasure to read something new from your pen. Thank you.
Love
Always Myra
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Superb!
Oh, for my money this is an absolutely superb sonnet! Near perfect as far as I can tell, and I love it, yes, indeed, I do love it!!
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